00:05I've always been fascinated by cetaceans, so whales, dolphins and porpoise, and I think
00:11there's just something innately fascinating about their lives.
00:15I'm Julia and I'm a PhD student at the University of St Andrews.
00:19My PhD research is specifically looking at the consequences of killer whale predation
00:24on seal species, but also the behavioural interactions of killer whales and seals all
00:29around coastal Scotland.
00:32For me, there are so many cool things about killer whales.
00:35They are apex predators, which means they're at the top of the food chain, they're found
00:39in every ocean, and they live in these strong family bonds throughout their entire life.
00:45And whilst we know a lot about killer whale populations elsewhere in the world, we're
00:50really only starting to scratch the surface of what we know about killer whales that we
00:54see around coastal Scotland.
00:57One of the main ways that we monitor the killer whales is through photo identification.
01:01And essentially each whale has its own unique dorsal fin and saddle patch, and that's how
01:05we know who the individual is.
01:08The pods are given the name after their matriarch.
01:12So 27 is the leader of the group, and that's why these are known as the 27s pod.
01:18The pod that I've seen most as part of my PhD is the 27s, and they're somewhat of a favourite
01:24here on Shetland.
01:25There's seven individuals in this pod, the matriarch 27 herself, two bulls, and a number
01:30of other individuals.
01:31And I remember the first time I saw them as part of my PhD studies, and it was just phenomenal.
01:37It was one of those picture-perfect days, everything kind of came together, and I honestly never
01:42thought that I would see killer whales so close in Scottish waters.
01:48So we know that one, that's 34 because he's got the notch out the top of his fin, which
01:52means 72 is going to be somewhere close to the two bulls in the 27s pod.
01:59That was just amazing.
02:02That was absolutely amazing.
02:04I never get used to it, I never get used to it, it doesn't matter how many times I see
02:07it.
02:07Especially the bulls, like the sheer size of their fin, when that pops up out of the
02:11water, it's just, it is genuinely breathtaking, it's amazing.
02:20I'm halfway through my PhD now, I've got a couple years left, and I just hope that by
02:26the end of it we'll understand more about the foraging behaviour of these animals, we'll
02:31understand whether or not they've got any specialisations, just learn more about the role
02:37that they play in this ecosystem, and ultimately gather the vital information that we need
02:43about these killer whales to help conserve them for years to come.
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